"It's not a marketing and merchandise strategy," Brandon said. "It was to fire up the team as far as our own competitive edge. I'm glad we did it. It worked out well, but like everything else, some people love it, some don't love it."

I loved them too. Now if we can just get some stripes on the pants. Or perhaps some wording on the pantaloons, maybe one leg spells out MAN in maize and the other let spells out BALL in blue. That would be fresh

Golden Palace is a gambling site that all the athletes and poker players promote by wearing hats and t-shirts to press conferences. It's an example of DB only caring about making money... And who's Chet?

Did you read the article you posted? He said it was to fire up the players and it worked:

"They were going nuts," Brandon said of the players. "They were excited and thought the jerseys were very cool. They were well aware that State had unique uniforms on, and I think they were happy they had their own special thing."

And if anyone thinks Brandon is lying, Doug Karsch on the radio broadcast confirmed how excited the players were about the uniforms.

Those 19 year olds who wore the winged helmets for the first time... boy did they ever look stupid. I realize I am comparing apples to oranges, but those 'kids' are the ones who make history. We are the ones that watch it...

You totally missed my point. Which individuals do you think built the tradition? Who are these "many" who came before the current players? If you answered a bunch of 18-23 year-old kids (be it in 1905, 1940, 1969, or 2011) then you are correct. 50 years from now it will be the 18-23 year-old Denards, Fitzgeralds, et. al. that built/maintained the UofM Tradition that the 18-23 year-old Harmons, Desmonds, Hennes et. al. built before them. This gravy train we and thousands of other alumni ride each Saturday is operated by 18-23 YEAR-OLD KIDS. How is that a hard concept to grasp? Further, If we want that gravy train to keep on rolling so we can enjoy celebrating our alma mater on fall weekends then our program needs to appeal to 21st century 16-18 year old kids who actually enjoy a little flash from time to time. Christ, Oregon has built a juggernaut program off of that concept on steroids. If a little bitching from crochety alumni is the trade off for a few 5 star recruits that enjoy the "creativity" I'm not going to get bent out of shape.

I did read it, and yes the players were amped up, but you're out of your mind if you honestly believe he did it just for the players. The jerseys certainly didn't give the team the energy to overcome the struggles up front.

For the record, I think one of the dumber things you can do is distract a team by introducing an unfamiliar jersey to them just before a game. It takes your mind off the job at hand, and in-game provides different visual cues than the ones you're accustomed to.

Everybody who was at the game knows it. Doug Karsch was right; Brandon was right. The team came out amped like no other time this year.

There is one bit of proof I'll await. Is Michigan going to sell any of those away-version stripe-jobs?

If we aren't "merchandising or marketing" them, then it is a bit hard to argue with Brandon's statement. So I've not seen them for sale. Has anybody? I'm just not aware...

But it is also probably cute on Brandon's part. Does anybody suppose, that if we had won last Saturday's game in the last minute on a 65-yard run by Denard, that there wouldn't have been an order placed for 500,000 units of those jerseys?

According to what DB said in the article they were only planning to sell these if there was enough public demand for them. It sounds like some people must have enjoyed these jerseys. I'm all for giving these kids a little something to fire them up a little more in a rivalry game.

Just because the team was pumped up after seeing the new uniforms doesn't mean that's why they were excited. ND wasn't a big deal - the team beat them twice under RR - but this game was a critical rivalry game. Seniors were worried they would never beat MSU. They even had a clock!

I think it's safe to say that "firing up" players right before a game doesn NOT translate to getting them to play their best football. Look at the first half of the Notre Dame game. The players were more fired up than ever via the first night game, the throwback unis, the record setting crowd, and they came out and played very poorly. They made dumb mistakes offensively, and just looked shaken. Once they settled down they started putting things together and playing their game. When you amp up 19 year olds too much they make a lot of mistakes. Sometimes it's better to keep them calm and collected right before a big game. So to say this "amping them up" strategy worked would mean that the team came out with fire and intensity and was able to translate that energy into success on the field... Which obviously didn't happen... FAIL.

Behind schools like Oregon wearing different unis each week is because they have no tradition so they unabashedly market themselves that way. Never realized that was actually the key to their onfield success over the last couple of years. Maybe DB is onto something afterall.

So he's either shading the truth (which, without getting all OWS, isn't so out of character for a CEO) or he can't tell the difference between creating a new product and maximizing the timing of its launch. The latter I can see being used as a bit of a pump-up for the team. The former is all about the $$$.

It wouldn't be as insulting, I guess, if he'd at least acknowledge that his "base" are alumni of a leading university and, as such, should possibly be given a bit more benefit for being able to see through such typical malarkey.

The article stated that he said that the players thought "they were very cool".

"They were going nuts," Brandon said of the players. "They were excited and thought the jerseys were very cool. They were well aware that State had unique uniforms on, and I think they were happy they had their own special thing."

I did not care for them myself, and as an old guy, I understand the importance of keeping the damned kids off the lawn, but be factual or the kids will catch on.

Not stating this as fact but it has been suggested that the formula for Coke was changed to new Coke to transition the US market to corn syrup based products. New Coke came out in Apri 1985, which is officially the same year coke switched to high fructose. If true, while evil and obviously horrible for obesity porobelm in America, It was utter brilliance from a business standpoint and something DB would fit righ tin with.

So, by rolling out the bumblebee monstrosities early DB is just prepping the fanbase, so when the new-uni-every-week marketing plan is finally unrolled we'll all say "well, they aren't nearly as bad as they could be...they almost look like our old uniforms"?

You have a good point. He's showing a certain tone-deafness that's going to get him into trouble. He very clearly thinks he knows better than us and doesn't care about tradition, even though it's one of the things that sets Michigan apart.

My hope is that Brandon brings in insane amounts of cash for the department, builds a bunch of incredible facilities, and then is replaced by someone who wants to get back to all the traditional stuff we love. We shall see.

Or it probably had something to do with the fact that Adidas more than doubled what Nike was currently paying us, and included a clause in the contract that UM would be their highest university contract.

If the players love them then I am all for it. This senior class in particular has been jerked around probably more than any Michigan class ever, so screw the haters and get-off-my-lawners, I want them to make THEIR mark on the program and do things their way.

You originally said this senior class could make their mark and wear what they like. I responded that michigan is bigger than one senior class. You then responded that Michigan is bigger than a jersey.

My point is that this senior class does not have a free pass to do whatever they want and just because they like the jerseys does not mean we should all say ok well since you have had a rough 4 years its ok. Like you said, michigan is bigger than a jersey.

You said the best way to leave their mark is to win, to which I agree but I think we can also agree it is not the only way. Let's also be honest in that they were never destined to go undefeated this year, but they will win all they can.

Michigan is bigger than a senior class, also bigger than a jersey, so by the seniors leaving a mark through wearing jerseys they like they are not changing the program.

Sorry, but I just think if you never change anything in the name of "tradition" you become Notre Dame. Some new things are ok (and they dollars they bring are great), people just need to chill, shrug your shoulders and have a beer.

is a joke. What the team wears and what music is played in Michigan Stadium (I'm looking at you Pop Evil) should not be decided by 100 teenagers, even if they are the players.

The uniforms and stadium experience represent 35,000 students, 500,000 alumni and millions of fans and over 100 years of tradition. Sure, the players input matters, but it should never be the deciding factor on issues like this.

My guess is that it is just cover for DB to make more "marketing" decisions, but either way it is a terrible justification, true or not.

Sorry, but you have to do things like this to attract fresh fans sometimes. Winning is obviously the number one way to attract fans, but when you have a fanbase that is so locked on to what they perceive to be tradition to the point that it becomes very difficult for a new fan to become incorporated it becomes counter-productive.

The fact of the matter is every team needs its band-wagoners, fair weather fans and "Walmart Wolverines" to make enough money to maintain the program and the number of other sports football supports.

Some of you make me laugh at how bent out of shape you are getting over this! The players thoughts do matter and in this day and age anything you can do to make us seem like a "cool" school to go to because we care what you the players like has to help in recruiting and I'm all for that.(holy run on sentence Batman)

It might seem stupid to us but 16-18 yo kids like stuff like this. Making some $ for the athletic department and helping with recruiting should cancel out all this overblown outrage.

I agree. I heard some of the guys on the team thought that army camo would be pretty damn cool, with bright orange helmets. They actually want to change the colors to red and white instead of blue and maize so that should probably be done. Also, we need those crazy arm sleeves and LOTS of sweatbands. O boy, we are going to be rocking the country we these!!

Yeah, fuck that. We wear traditional jerseys, I don't give a damn what the players want.

that maybe getting the players all fired up in the locker room for fruit stripe uniforms could actually be a bad strategy because of all the energy wasted over such a wonderful "surprise"? IMHO, this takes their focus off of the task at hand

if they waste all of their emotion and a whole lot of energy jumping around the locker room being so excited over the jerseys, wouldnt that vim and vigor be better utilized between the whistles? Every year you hear NFL talking heads wax philisophic on the fact that getting overhyped for games can degrade a players performance because once that wave of emotion wears off, you're spent, and it's only the second quarter...Im just playing devils advocate here

These are 18-22 year old kids here. At that age they are probably envious of the snazzy special uniforms their opponent are wearing just to play them so maybe it's a good idea to give them something to make them feel special too. It's not like the uniforms had red or green or some other rediculous color that has no ties to the University of Michigan (looking at you MSU for featuring bronze).

that things are being taken overboard with the perception of Brandon on this board. How unforgettable was Notre Dame? That was Michigan's night, Michigan's brand, one of the most memorable games that I can remember in Michigan history. That was a Brandon product. The road alternates were his call, and from all account, the team loved them. OK the shoulders were a bit too much but come on. He is a DB, why? Because he doesn't get "it." What exactly doesn't he get?

This is not flamebait, it is an actual question. Renovated stadium, the envy of the conference, check. Night game, check. Good coaching hire who made good coaching hires, check. Why the venom? A DB because we now have music piped into the stadium. Michigan is being rebranded and our 2012-13 recruiting class seems to like the brand. Right?

I agree, don't throw the baby out with the bath water. We all know that Brandon has done some good things. But, he has done a lot of bad things too and we're right to complain about tthem. The program has gone through a lot in the last three years, we don't want to lose any more of our identity than we already have. The stuff we don't want changed is a large part of what made us all Michigan fans to begin with.

"Renovated stadium, the envy of the conference, check." The stadium renovation was approved by the regents in June 2007; DB started in January 2010. He had nothing to do with it.

"Good coaching hire who made good coaching hires, check." Wow - I didn't realize seven games in it's been confirmed Brady Hoke was a good hire. I certainly hope he is a good hire, but we won't know that for at least 3 years, probably longer.

Also, are you giving DB credit for our 2012 recruiting class? The vast majority of those players committed before the night game and last Saturday's white-out bumble bee explosion, so my guess is they are committing b/c they think Michigan, and themselves personally, will be successful under Mattison and Hoke as football players. The rest of the stuff is small potatoes.

The venom against Brandon is it seems like he would stamp "CURLY FRIES - 2 for $1" on the back of a jersey if he thought he could get away with it. He has some good ideas (Big Chill, UTL), but he's far too slick and dollar-dollar-bill for my liking.

I didn't know that DB played in the Notre Dame game to make the memorable. He set up the night game, that is all. I hated the jerseys in that game as well by the way.

- He didn't have anything to do with the renovated stadium. That was decided over four years ago to expand it.
- Envy of the conference? From what?
- Good coaching hire? Not bashing Hoke (love the dude) but it's been 7 games so far and we've all seen teams like Notre Dame drop off significantly once a coach gets his own recruits on board (Tyrone Willingham, Charlie Weis).

I doubt our recruits are coming to Michigan because our 'rebranding'. They are coming to Michigan because of the atmosphere, tradition, them fitting into the system and enivornment, and the coaching staff. If 'rebranding' Michigan means wearing shitty uniforms with stripes that look stupid, then I'm not for it. Those jerseys are a disgrace and I don't care if recruits like them or not. I'll take lesser recruits if it means we stay traditional with our uniforms. And this is coming from a 19 year old, not an old timer stuck in the mud.

*sniff* Argyle socks are to be worn only on Saturday's, when the Club has its luncheon.

*sigh* or you can wear Argyle socks when tailgating, of course only if they're David's (Da-veed's) design, a Maize M on deep navy blue socks, cross-stitching on the heel, maize on the toe line, elastic at the calf.

The minority here is the boosters, who control what happens in the end. I have no idea what the boosters want, but they are the minority and they are in control for the most part. If someone is talking like "they were fresh dawg", then I doubt they could even buy a jersey anyway.

The decision to wear the clown suits for the MSU game may not have been a "marketing and merchandizing" decision, but the decision to make our alternate uniforms LOOK like clown suits certainly was. Why do you think all of our fake throwbacks have those godawful stripes on them? Because Adidas logo is stripes, so they somehow think they must put stripes on everything they touch now.

I'd be fine with throwback uniforms, but the 3 fake throwbacks created by Adidas have all been hideously ugly.

How about giving us real throwbacks, huh? As in, actual jerseys once worn by Michigan, not the Barnum and Bailey Circus clowns???

How condescending can Brandon be towards the team and the coaches? Is he saying that the team wouldn't have been properly "fired up" to play Michigan State unless he had made them wear those uniforms? I would like to see Brandon tell Ryan Van Bergen that the reason that RVB was so pumped up was because of the uniforms. I would like to see him tell Hoke that the team needed extra motivation. That's an insult, and only a certain kind of egomaniac wouldn't even realize it was an insult.

Sorry, DB. The team was motivated because it was Michigan State, not because of the stripes on the shirts. They were motivated because Hoke had them motivated. They were fired up because the Seniors had them fired up.

usually 3 feet away from Hoke. DB has been among the first to congratulate Hoke after the wins and he talks or listens in to Denard when he was out. Not sure what to make of it. Enthusiatic hands on boss like Mark Cuban or an annoying interfering boss also like Mark Cuban.

I'm tired of DB being a boss looking over the shoulder. First the whole Rodriguez thing were he watched film with them or whatever, now constantly following Hoke around. Nobody wants to be under a magnifying glass. Stand on the far ends of the sideline or get the fuck in the box. As you can tell, I hate Dave Brandon with a passion.

you should remember one important fact: those uniforms are pieces of f**king clothing. I don't love the new uniform selections either but who cares? I'll always support Michigan football. Step away from the ledge. I'm tired of endless posts about how ugly the uniforms are.

throwback for the ND game was positive. So they then take that style and put it into an away uni and people go crazy? I was not a huge all white uni fan back in the 70's (isn't that when we wore them ??? - and Bo was the coach), but if we had won the game last week ... the bitchers wouldn't be as numerous.

I'm sick and fucking tired of the "players like them" crap. I'm sorry, but if the players wanted to get rid of The Victors and play Pop Evil after touchdowns, would you be OK with that? If they wanted black jerseys and black pants, would you be OK with that? If they wanted to ditch the winged helmet, would you be OK with that? (Would Dave Brandon?)

Oh no, you're being too extreeeeeeme! or so I've been told. Too bad - that's how you expose logical fallacies like this one. Admit it - if Pop Evil started playing after a score, you'd be pissed. If told the players requested it, you'd still be pissed.

I go to "extremes" like ditching the fight song and the winged helmets to illustrate this point: that if something came up that was beyond your pain threshold, no amount of "the players like it" would settle you down. So quit hiding behind "the players like it" and just come out and admit that you like it. But no - you don't want to be blamed for the gradual erosion of tradition, so you try and guilt trip those of us who hate the uniforms into accepting them. I'm sick of that shit.

I'd like to see just one person - just one - come out and say this: "These uniforms are the ugliest fucking thing I've ever seen and I hate looking at them. This program has been around for over a hundred years without ever putting something that stupid-looking on the field, and I hate that they decided to start now. There's a traditional 'Michigan look' and that is not it, and I'm pretty sure we're headed down a slippery slope where things only get worse. But this program belongs to the players and the players only, even though they've been here for at most four years of the 120+ that the program has existed, and I'm OK with whatever it takes to keep them happy. So if the players like the uniforms, I can live with them even though I hate every fiber of their existence, and furthermore, whatever traditions they hate, be it the winged helmet or the fight song, or if they want a big furry mascot, or if they want the cheerleaders to dress like strippers and the band to be kicked out of the stadium, I am OK with that too. Because the players have the only opinion that matters."

Someone come out and say that - and actually mean every word of it - and I will allow myself proven wrong.

You are being too extreme. It's obvious that the jerseys for one or two games don't rank as high as our fight song or helmets to any rational person. Not everything has to be so black and white. People are absolutely allowed to change their minds if things get worse.

I don't like or dislike those away jerseys they aren't a big deal to me (how often have our away jerseys changed over the years?). I don't want to see it too often but until that actually happens I'm not going to bitch about it.

Based on not wanting to see them too often, I'm guessing if those became the official away jerseys, you'd have a problem. If it does happen too often, beyond your tolerance threshold, will you continue to be OK with it if the players are the ones behind the change?

While I think ultimately Dave Brandon has the best interest of the program at heart, he lets his ego get in the way of his decisions too much. Sometimes it's more about Dave Brandon telling people he's right/ he knows more than just apologizing for the mistake (Pop Evil, Clown Unis, etc.) and moving on. He seems to have surrounded himself with a bunch of yes men.

To me, it feels like it's Dave Brandon's mission to make "his mark" on the program while he has the power. Frankly, I'm annoyed, but it also does seem like we have been getting more national attention than in the Carr days (maybe this is a product of the Twitter generation/ 24 hr news cycle)

Feel free to express concern. That's the point of a blog. Diatribes about how players don't really get tradition or how recruits enjoying jerseys is dumb seem petty and overblown in the greater scheme of things.

If Brandon is the only one pushing these jerseys and they become a constant theme of big games, then yeah, I'll be on board with the concern. Until then, I'll trust the AD.

You completely missed the point of my "diatribe" if you thought it was about how the players don't respect tradition or how recruits are stupid to like jerseys.

I suspect you do get the point, however, if the uniformzz come out of the woodwork for every big game and you start to hate it. At that point, it won't matter to you that the players get amped up. Which is the point.

I didn't read your comment, to be totally honest. I was referring to comments above that. Now I can't read it as it appears to have been caved and javascript isn't working.

I don't even like either jersey. I think the white jerseys are ugly and look like Georgia Tech took acid and stared at a Warhol piece. But it's not really my place to be upset when the UTL version only came out once, the away jersey appears to have also been a one-off, and recruits/players seem to be having a damn good time with it.

It was kind of a diatribe. Here's the cliff notes: the idea that "the players like them" is a sham, because everyone will have their breaking point as to what point the Davebrandonization of the program is too much. And at that point it won't matter whether or not the players like what's going on, there will be one more name added to the rolls of the get-off-my-lawners. Really, I wish people would admit they're the ones that are OK with it - you, for example, are OK with it because it's a one-off event, not just because the players liked them.

Besides, players will publicly like things but privately hate them. Very rare will be the instance in which one of them comes out and says "man, thing X sucks." That would be a media firestorm, discontent in the program, dissension in the ranks, the works. I bet if you took a private, no-attribution poll, there's no way any of these things would be unanimous, but they can't say it publicly.

Yeah, that is kind of the point I was getting at about former players. I think people focus way to much on the aesthetics and call it "tradition", when it is not necessarily, or when you deviate a bit from them you are destroying tradition.

The fact is Dave Brandon played at Michigan, and knowing several former players who played under Bo, I have not heard ANY of them complain about a single thing Brandon has done when he took over, least of all the jersey music or RAWK. Some people think WAY too hard about the details of being at a Michigan game, and in turn forget that it is the experience OVERALL that is important.

Clearly this is my view on things, but here is how I order elements of our tradition. First and foremost is winning, obviously, and if that is there nobody cares as much about the rest. Second, the stadium brings an experience that is unmatched anywhere. Third, the band and our legendary fight song. Next is the uniform, starting with our famed wings. These are the things that I believe make up parts of tradition we see as spectators.

But Michigan football isn't about fans or selling things, its ALWAYS been about the young men involved in THE TEAM, THE TEAM, THE TEAM. That is where the true, and frankly, most important tradition lies. I have stated it ad nauseum, but Michigan football has always been about learning life lessons from sport. Its about hard work, discipline, and doing your job while relying on the man next to you to do his. These lessons can be applied throughout the rest of your life. This is the most important part of the tradition, and it involves the players, not the fans. It has nothing to do with RAWK or uniforms.

My dad was fortunate enough to play under Bo, and I can tell in how he speaks about him that he was a mentor and molder of young men. Growing up I constantly heard Bo's famous line, "What the mind can conceive and believe, the mind can achieve." My dad believes in that, and believed that it is of utmost importance that the person behind the reins of the program understood this, and I certainly think Brandon understands this.

So everyone can cry foul over the jerseys because you think they are, uh, foul, and people can complain that DB is destroying tradition this and that... But they are all wrong, because the core of what makes michigan special is still there, RAWK music and bumble bee jerseys or not.

Oigh, I rambled and thus probably deviated from point, but its all in there.

When I saw the players come out in those jerseys for the game my first thought is that we were wearing them mostly because of problems with our normal game jerseys. You know the sort of problems that cause half the team to change uniform at halftime like we saw during the NW game. I don't know, it might just be wishful thinking on my part that we had a possible reason for wearing those hideous bee costumes.

Doesn't this kind of fly in the face of every coach (including Hoke), who make comments to the effect of, "if you need something to get you ready for this game..."??? Shouldn't playing your in-state rival you have lost three in row to, who has a coach who makes it his personal vendetta to beat you enough??? Apparently no, we need special uni's also. So we can be special just like MSU.